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Description

The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

The OECD provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. We work with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change. We measure productivity and global flows of trade and investment. We analyse and compare data to predict future trends. We set international standards on a wide range of things, from agriculture and tax to the safety of chemicals.

We also look at issues that directly affect everyone’s daily life, like how much people pay in taxes and social security, and how much leisure time they can take. We compare how different countries’ school systems are readying their young people for modern life, and how different countries’ pension systems will look after their citizens in old age.

Drawing on facts and real-life experience, we recommend policies designed to improve the quality of people's lives. We work with business, through the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, and with labour, through the Trade Union Advisory Committee. We have active contacts as well with other civil society organisations. The common thread of our work is a shared commitment to market economies backed by democratic institutions and focused on the wellbeing of all citizens. Along the way, we also set out to make life harder for the terrorists, tax dodgers, crooked businessmen and others whose actions undermine a fair and open society.

Glossary

What is Social Protection for us?

“Social protection refers to policies and actions which enhance the capacity of poor and vulnerable people to escape from poverty and enable them to better manage risks and shocks. Social protection measures include social insurance, social transfers and minimum labour standards. Social protection directly reduces poverty, stimulates the involvement of poor women and men in the economy and contributes to social cohesion and stability Social protection directly reduces poverty through improved health outcomes, increased school attendance, hunger reduction and livelihoods promotion. It helps reduce gender disparities in human development outcomes. It can provide essential support to vulnerable members of society who are unable to work. Social protection makes growth more pro-poor by enabling household investment in productive activities and human capital, raising productivity and incomes. It helps poor women and men to manage the trade-offs between meeting immediate needs and securing future livelihoods. Social protection helps poor and vulnerable households to safeguard their assets and adopt effective coping strategies to meet challenges arising from man-made and natural disasters, economic crises and climate change. This allows households to invest in more productive but often riskier livelihood strategies. By strengthening the employability of poor women and men and enabling them to seek and obtain better and more remunerative work, social protection promotes their participation in the labour force. Social protection thus builds self reliance, not dependency. Social protection reinforces the social contract that can help legitimise and strengthen the state, which is particularly important in fragile contexts.”